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Chapter 542: Apollo Awakens

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Apollo gradually opened his eyes while in the center of a dulling inscription circle. Before him, Furcas steadied himself with an unusual pale color. Evidently, healing Apollo back to peak performance was an abnormal task that Furcas hadn\'t adequately prepared himself for.

\'Motherfu-! What is wrong with his vitality? I should\'ve expected something absurd like this to take place, seeing as he possesses both an unprecedented bloodline accompanied with a bizarre body,\' Furcas swore internally.

At first, it was reasonably simple for Furcas to manipulate the energies of the runes to heal the wounds within Apollo\'s body and spirit, but that soon changed as he delved into the deep-rooted wounds. This was linked to Apollo\'s use of all seven Sins at one time.

While the runes didn\'t differentiate between the Sin signatures, it was still tricky to partition seven streams of energy, some of which needed to be more robust than others since the state of Apollo\'s Sin Vessels varied greatly. The vessels that housed Sins which Apollo rarely used required twice, if not thrice, the amount of attention the others needed.

"You don\'t look so well," Apollo said with a faint chuckle. At the same time, he analyzed his internals and saw that Furcas had properly sealed up all the cracks and ruptures. If Apollo weren\'t the reason for his earlier wounds, then Furcas\'s healing would have made it practically impossible to discern that his body was previously close to peril.

"You jest? Are you mocking me? I\'ll have you know that simultaneously tending to both of you buffoons is not an easy feat," Furcas yelled with an incredulous expression. He couldn\'t believe that the usually cold Lord was in the joking mood and doing so after he worked tirelessly to ensure his full recovery.

Of course, Furcas wasn\'t offended by Apollo\'s actions, especially after witnessing Apollo\'s next move.

Apollo waved his hand, summoning a small ring in the palm of his hand. "This is for you. I know you went to great lengths to help me. I don\'t care if it\'s your duty to serve your Lord; it\'s also my responsibility to ensure the longevity of my household."

"But, Lord…"

"No buts," Apollo interjected. "There are some rune materials found in the ruins and some Fragment of Sins. I\'ll make sure to keep you in mind once we come across stronger materials."

Before accepting the ring, Furcas looked at Apollo silently with an unusual expression. \'Something\'s… different. Just what happened in the fight against Asteroth? It feels as if the Young Lord has matured a great deal. Either way, this is extremely beneficial for the household.\'

"I understand, my Lord, and I appreciate the sentiment," Furcas replied with a nod before taking the ring.

Suddenly, a low rustle was heard beside Apollo, causing his attention to gradually shift towards the source. Just as he had awoken, so had Asteroth. But, unlike Apollo, there seemed to be unsettled emotions in Asteroth\'s eyes as he gazed at Apollo.

"Just so you know, neither of us won," Asteroth said with a grunt.

"As I said before, I\'ll take a draw, but the results won\'t stagnate. I promise that I will overtake you," Apollo answered with a faint smirk. All Asteroth could do was snicker in response.

Meanwhile, Furcas was taken aback by their exchange. Usually, Asteroth would have resorted to extreme violence after listening to someone claiming that they could best him. Only individuals Asteroth acknowledged could utter such words with little to no consequence, but that was limited to Aztraval, Fuhrer, 9 Kings, and some of the absurdly powerful Dukes.

Afterward, Apollo closed his eyes and smiled before opening them with a cold glint. An intangible ripple spread from his body as he sent a message to all of his subjects within his vicinity, which was the summons that Geneva answered to.

But, unlike his usual actions of opening a portal for them to appear immediately, Apollo didn\'t create one. He was well aware that most of his household members were engaged in extensive training while he healed, so rather than interrupt their progress, he merely reminded them that their timeline was shortening and they should finish up whatever endeavors they were currently in the midst of.

"Will you be joining us on our household mission?" Apollo asked while glancing towards Asteroth.

"Don\'t feel like it. Besides, I doubt you\'re getting into any real fun at your current level; it\'s not something I want to trouble myself with," Asteroth answered before rising to his feet.

"If that\'s the case, then I have a request. You don\'t have to honor it, but my subordinate begged for this opportunity. I have a forger in my ranks, and they\'ve studied your molds earnestly; however, they require more guidance if they\'re to make any more notable advancements. Would you give them a few pointers to broaden their path," Apollo asked.

He hadn\'t forgotten about Xonnomor\'s request, and now that they were sufficiently healed and Asteroth seemed unoccupied with time to spare, it was the perfect time for Apollo to raise this request.

"My molds?" Asteroth muttered before recalling the weapon Apollo used for a short while during the fight. It truly possessed some of the qualities found in his mold, but Asteroth also sensed many inconsistencies since those were molds meant to create the perfect container for an Armament\'s soul.

"Perhaps the forger behind your weapon has the making to be a great smith, but they lack the fire found in all smiths at that level, both physically and in the sense of their spirit. But… it wouldn\'t hurt to converse with a component forger versed in the language of the smith," Asteroth said with a partially interested look.

There weren\'t many forgers in the old household, and those who were present typically made up the production crew tasked with creating the mass-manufactured armors and weapons for war.

"Excellent. I\'m sure they\'ll be ecstatic to learn of that chance. Though, I\'d much rather leave it to surprise," Apollo said. Part of him didn\'t want to promise Asteroth\'s guidance because he understood his finicky attitude that changed on a whim depending on how Asteroth felt in the moment.

Soon after, Apollo rose to his feet and moved to the courtyard, where a crowd gradually appeared. At the same time, a portal opened behind Apollo with weary dropping on the ground repeatedly. However, the last one to appear remained indifferent and perfectly healthy.

"Did it go well?" Apollo questioned.

"As best as it could. Regardless of my expectations, I can\'t doubt Estran\'s eye for individuals," Fuhrer said with an imperceptible nod. During his training, he foresaw multiple recurrences, but to his surprise, the Lords didn\'t appreciate the fact that another demon was closer to claiming an Aura than they were.

So, even when on the verge of crumbling their soul, the Lords continued to trudge forward. Sadly, all of the Lords weren\'t present of Fuhrer would have been satisfied by the results.

\'Hmm?\'

Though he was interested in learning about the events that transpired inside the separate space, Apollo\'s interest was stolen by a rapidly approaching party of two. Their absurd speed caused a constant disturbance in the atmosphere littered with Ira.

According to his knowledge, even Amduscias, the Demonic Duke blessed with obscene speed, paled in comparison to what he sensed. But, what unsettled Apollo was the fact that he hadn\'t perceived this party until it was uncomfortably close.

If it weren\'t for Apollo\'s exposure to all Sins, he probably wouldn\'t have sensed the newcomer at all since the fluctuation happened in near imperceptible intervals, as if the other side was seeking to conserve their strength.

Apollo\'s eyes narrowed slightly as a dark aura appeared in the palm of his right hand. \'Based on their actions, this should be far from their true strength. Furthermore, they\'re not from this Ring. Wait…\'

Suddenly, Apollo noticed a change in the notifications displayed in his eyes. Since he wasn\'t focused on seeking out any more of the hidden members of the Lost Council, he didn\'t spare the location markers any attention.

But, the change was so apparent that he couldn\'t help but look at the rapidly reducing distance. \'Someone has come to meet personally? How unusual; this is a first.\'

The black aura in Apollo\'s palm gradually dispersed as he returned to his relaxed while awaiting the party\'s landing.

Whoosh!

Two individuals, one a female with tantalizing features wreathed by feathery clothing, spawned from her bloodline\'s inherent traits and a wild demon with an oppressive presence.

Needless to say, the two who appeared were Forcalor and Geneva.